Angels
by LL24ever
Summary: The sequel to Fallen-Secrets from the past still threaten everyone's happiness, and their lives.
1. Prologue

Minutes Later  
  
The ambulances pulled up to the doors of General Hospital in under 6 minutes. It felt like a lot longer, as I lay on the stretcher in a widening pool of my own blood, mine and possibly the baby's. I was drifting in and out, asking for Nikolas and grabbing Bobbie's hand as waves of pain and nausea wracked my body. Bobbie had ridden with me because I was the most serious of the three, they couldn't get my bleeding under control, and I had already lost nearly 1/3 of my body's blood supply in the short ambulance ride.  
The doctors got us inside and started buzzing around the gurneys. One of the doctors pulled everyone aside and quietly told Nikolas, Lucky, and Zander that they would most likely have to make one of the hardest choices imaginable.  
"We don't think we can save both the baby, and the mother, which one do you want us to try to save more?" the young doctor asked.  
"WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT, THEY ARE JUST KIDS, DO YOUR JOB AND SAVE THEM BOTH," Sonny said, anger bursting forth as he flashed back to when he had to sacrifice his son with Carly in order to save her life.  
  
*Flashback: (note I don't know the exact dialogue)  
"Carly is stable, however, the baby is in trouble and will cause Carly problems if we let the pregnancy continue," the doctor said flatly.  
"Is the baby big enough to be born right now?" Sonny asked.  
"Its lungs aren't developed yet," the doctor said.  
"What does that mean?" Sonny asked.  
"Your son won't survive outside the womb, and your wife won't survive with the baby in the womb, either way someone is lost here, which one would you like us to save, your wife or your son," the doctor said.  
"Save my wife," Sonny said flatly, letting his son die.  
(End of Flashback)*  
  
"We will try our best, but every moment the baby is inside, it puts its mother at risk, they will keep bleeding until we deliver the babies." The doctor said, breaking Sonny out of his thoughts.  
"Are the babies old enough to live outside...," Nikolas asked, his voice chocked by sobs as tears streamed down his face.  
"At 24 weeks they are just past viability, meaning that without further complications, they should have about a 50% chance of developing normally," the doctor said.  
"Then lets deliver the babies, and please do all you can to save our fiancee's," Lucky begged, his blue eyes pooled with tears, spilling over onto his cheeks.  
We were moved to the delivery room and settled into the large OR, waiting for our emergency C-sections. "You may go in while we deliver your babies," the doctor said.  
"May I play some music, it's a comfort to Autumn?" Nikolas asked.  
"By all means, go ahead," the doctor said.  
Nikolas came into the room, walking over to the bed and setting the CD player and speakers down on the counter and plugging it in.  
"What would you like me to play sweetie?" he asked me.  
"Will you play my song again please?" I asked.  
"Whatever you want," he said.  
I relaxed as the music filled the air, which was good because they had started to get set up for the emergency C-section. My stomach was numbed, but because of the degree of blood loss I had already sustained, they couldn't risk my blood pressure bottoming out by giving me painkillers just yet. As the second verse of the song began the doctor, assisted by Bobbie, pulled out a small baby girl, showing her to me briefly. She wasn't crying, at first, but then a thin wail filled the air. I also heard the sounds of Elizabeth and Emily's babies. All three of the babies were breathing. Nikolas squeezed my hand, happy tears replacing the worried tears running down our faces. Just then my blood pressure started to bottom out. From all sides of the room the music was accompianied by the sound of the 3 heart monitors on Elizabeth, Emily, and I as they started to go off. The doctors and nurses working on us scrambled to stop the bleeding, which was quickly becoming a losing battle.   
The boys clung to our hands in a desperate attempt to keep us going, but one by one the heart monitors squealed and then flatlined.  
"Get the crash carts, 3 code blues," the doctors shouted.  
"I'm sorry, but everyone's going to have to leave," a nurse said.  
"Bobbie, don't let them give up, they have to make it, for us and for the babies," Nikolas said, pleading with his eyes to be allowed to stay in the room, but he was escorted into the hallway along with Lucky and Zander, the swinging doors flipping back and forth. From inside the operating room the boys heard the sounds of their children, the doctors shouting orders, the shrillness of the alarms, and very softly over all the noise the strains of the last verse of Autumn's song. The words of which were never so important as they were right at this moment.   
  
Same old boy, same sweet girl  
Five years down the road  
  
There's going to be a little one  
And she says its time to go  
Doctor says the baby's fine  
But you'll have to leave  
Cause his momma's fading fast  
And Johnny hit his knees  
And there he prayed  
Take the very breath you gave me  
Take the heart from my chest  
I'll gladly take her place if you'll let me  
Make this my last request  
Take me out of this world  
God please   
Dont take the girl  
  
Johnny's daddy was taking him fishing  
When he was eight years old  
  
Nikolas dropped to his knees right there in the middle of the hallway outside of the operating room. Lucky and Zander joined him, and all three brothers prayed that they hadn't just gained a child, but lost the love of their lives in the process. As the last notes of the song hung in the stillness of the air, they waited to hear the sound of the machines that would mean that their fiancee's would come back to them. 


	2. Chapter 1

Outside the OR  
  
Luke, Laura, Carly, and Sonny walked up the hall to see what was taking so long and stared as the boys clung to each other, openly sobbing. Laura walked up to them and opened her arms. All three boys rose and gave her a hug. Then Luke, Sonny and Carly offered hugs. No explanations were needed, their faces clearly showed that something had not gone right. Sonny allowed a few tears to fall, thinking of Lily, Brenda, and his 2 children in heaven, and now violence and revenge had claimed more lives.  
"You have 2 granddaughters and a grandson," Nikolas finally said, in a voice barely above a whisper and husky from hours of crying.  
"It looks like there will be another Lucas Lorenzo Spencer in Port Charles after all, Elizabeth had the boy," Lucky added.  
"If the babies are okay, then why are you out here instead of in there with your fiancee's?" Carly asked, immediately regretting her question.  
"They flatlined about 10 minutes ago, the doctors kicked us out of the room, and we haven't heard anything since," Zander said, another sob escaping his throat.  
Inside the OR  
"How long have they been down?" Dr. Wexler asked, clinging onto the hope that she might save them yet.  
"15 minutes, should we keep going?" Dr. Ramsey asked, not experienced in high risk premie births such as this.  
"Shock them again at 300, we need to save them, their babies need their mothers," Dr. Wexler said.  
"What should I tell the family out there?" Bobbie asked, weary of watching her almost nieces lay there unresponsive and still bleeding out on the OR floor.  
"Tell them that we haven't given up yet and we are doing everything we can," Dr. Wexler said.  
"Where are those other 10 units of blood?" Dr. Ramsey asked exasperated as he desperately tried to salvage Autumn's chances of ever having another child.  
"Dammit we can't stop the bleeding long enough to get the heart to keep going on its own, we may need to do a hysterectomy," Dr. Wexler said in frustration.  
"Stand clear," Nurse Gabriella said, shocking Emily again. Finally one of them had a heart rate, and her bleeding had slowed. Elizabeth also seemed to be coming around, although it took two more shocks to get her heart stable again. Autumn on the other hand continued to bleed and her heart rate was so minimal it was still considered to be nonexsistent.  
"How long has she been down?" Bobbie asked.  
"20 minutes," Dr. Ramsey said.  
"Should we call it?" Nurse Gabriella asked.  
"One more try, here's another unit of blood," Dr. Wexler said.  
"Shocking, stand clear," Bobbie said.  
The air was still for a moment until everyone heard the faint but regular beating of Autumn's heart echo in the OR. It was close but for now they had her back. "How do her pupils look, any signs of brain damage?" Dr. Wexler asked.  
"Round equal and reactive to light, she has good oxygenation too, and I've almost got the bleeder under control, we may be able to salvage her uterus after all," Dr. Ramsey said, sewing the last stubborn blood vessel back together.  
"Bobbie, tell the rest of the family that they are in serious, but stable condition, they will be going to the ICU in about 15 minutes, and the babies are okay and on their way to the NICU," Dr. Wexler said breathing a sigh of relief.  
Outside the OR  
"Barbara Jean, is there any news?" Luke said practically grabbing his little sister as she came out of the OR, exhausted and covered in the blood of her 3 nieces-in-law.  
"The babies are on their way to the NICU, they are in fair condition, on respirators and we'll see how that goes, as for their mother's, it was a close call, but they are on their way to ICU in serious, but stable condition," she said, tears of relief and sadness spilling down her face.  
"So they are going to be okay, when can I see Autumn," Nikolas said, his voice almost impossible to hear, it was so choked with emotion.  
"It will be touch and go, especially with Autumn, she was flatlined the longest, and sustained the most bleeding, the next 72 hours are critical," Bobbie said as her pager went off and she was called to the ICU to check something with Autumn, Elizabeth, and Emily.  
Once again Nikolas dropped to his knees and thanked God for giving them another chance. Then he went up to the NICU to see his daughter and give her a name. 


	3. Chapter 2

On the Docks  
"Do you know what you are supposed to do," the man said, his face obscured by the shadows.  
"Yes sir, I will do my job," the other man said, staring off into space.  
"And you know what you are supposed to do afterwards?" the first man said.  
"I am to kill myself so that my actions cannot be traced," the other man said in a low almost monotone voice.  
"Good, now get going, it needs to be done tonight," the first man said.  
  
At GH  
A young man walked quickly through the doors of the hospital. He looked straight ahead, his purpose clear. He walked over to the elevators and pushed the button for the 8th floor. When he stepped off the elevator he looked at the signs to find the NICU and walked towards the glass windows at the end of the hall. He shouldn't have a problem getting close to them, he thought, since everyone thinks that he is a part of the family. All he knows is he has a job to do, and he intended to do it.  
"What's your name young man, are you part of the family?" Francis asked taking a step towards the young man.  
"I am a part of the family, I just want to look in at the babies," the man said.  
"You aren't allowed to go in there, not unless your name is on the list," Francis said.  
"I will do my job," the young man said, waving a vial under Francis's nose.  
Francis slowly fell into his chair unconscious as the young man entered the NICU. The doctors and nurses were making their rounds of the regular nursery room and the young man was the only one in the room. He walked quickly over to the three bassinets, 2 marked Baby Girl Spencer, and the other marked Baby Boy Spencer.  
"Too bad you were born so early, then I could save at least the little boy, girls are worthless, but none of you will survive going outside, so I will just have to kill you," he said. He grabbed the small rubber tubing protuding from the baby boy's mouth and started twisting it apart, but it was taped together well and didn't immediately come apart.  
  
Downstairs  
"Autumn, please wake up, you need to go see our daughter, she is so beautiful, just like you," Nikolas said, pleading for the second day in a row for me to wake up.  
I opened my eyes at last and asked "The baby...di..did we lose the baby?"  
"No, we have a little girl, she is upstairs in the NICU waiting for her mommy," Nikolas said, his eyes red from crying and even more unshed tears threatening to fall.  
"I..I want to see her, I need to see her," I said, starting to try to sit up.  
"Autumn be careful, I almost lost you again, and I don't want to go through that ever again, promise me you won't do anything that might hurt you," Nikolas said.  
"Nikolas I want to see my baby, please, she needs me," I said, tears running down my face.  
"I will go ask Bobbie and Dr. Wexler and see when it will be safe for you to go upstairs to see her, I was going to name her, but I decided to wait until you could pick her name," Nikolas said.  
"Hurry back, are Elizabeth and Emily's babies okay too, and why am I in a room alone?" I asked.  
"They are across the hall, and all the babies are fine, Emily also had a girl, and Elizabeth had a boy," Nikolas said.  
"I guess Luke gets another namesake after all," I said smiling faintly.  
Nikolas went out in the hallway to ask Bobbie when I could go see our daughter, but Dr. Wexler didn't want me to move until at least the end of the day, preferably not until tomorrow. As Nikolas stood in the hallway with Luke, Laura, Bobbie, Sonny, Carly, and Dr. Wexler, Bobbie's pager went off. She called up to the NICU to answer it and went pale.  
"It was one of your men Sonny, something happened to Francis, we have to get upstairs," Bobbie said in a panic.  
Luke took off up the stairs shouting that if anything happened to his grandchildren that he would have Sonny's heart for breakfast. Sonny called his men on his cell phone and let out a stream of curses as he ran up the stairs, offering to cut his own heart out for Luke if something happened.  
  
Upstairs  
The young man realized that his time was running out, and that he had failed his task. He thought that if maybe he hid out he could get one more chance to do what she asked him to do. So he stayed where he was in the NICU, crouched between the bassinettes.   
Luke and Sonny burst into the NICU doors, startling the one nurse who had rushed back into the room about 2 minutes earlier. Nobody saw the young man, dressed in hospital scrubs, slipping a clamp on the air hose on Baby Boy Spencer. Luke strode over to the babies and smiled as he thought that everything was just fine, but then he noticed that the boy was having trouble breathing and looked down at the equiptment to figure out the cause of the problems. He saw the clamp and cursed softly.   
He told the nurse what he had seen and she examined the baby quickly, as soon as the clamp was removed his lips pinked back up and he let out a wail, letting the nurse and everyone know that he was fine. Even so all three babies were checked out to make sure that they were okay.   
The young man inched towards the door, intending to escape the hospital and kill himself as ordered before anyone discovered him. He wasn't that lucky. Out of the corner of his eye Sonny saw a black shadowy figure moving, and everyone heard the IV pole fall to the ground as the young man hit it with his knee and let out a soft curse.  
Luke walked over to the young man and grabbed his arm to keep him from going anywhere. He turned the young man around and was shocked to see who it was.  
"What the hell are you doing in here and why were you trying to kill my grandchildren?" Luke asked.  
"I am just doing my duty," the young man said.  
"What is wrong with you?" Luke asked.  
"I am doing my job, and now it is over, so I must go and eliminate myself," he said.  
"Don't you remember me?" Luke asked.  
"Do I know you?" the young man asked.  
"Yes you know me," Luke said.  
"You are of no importance," the young man said, struggling to get out of Luke's grasp.  
Just then Lucky, Zander and Nikolas walked into the NICU to see what was going on. They saw the young man that Luke had pinned to the wall, and realized that he must have been the one to have caused the problem with the babies.  
Lucky walked over to the young man, wanting to see his face, the face of the person who tried to kill his son. He gasped as he recognized who it was.  
"Sly, what are you doing here and why did you try to kill my son?" Lucky asked, almost speechless. 


	4. Chapter 3

Inside the NICU  
  
"My job is done," Sly said, his blue eyes unblinking as he stared at the angry faces surrounding him.  
"I ASKED YOU WHAT YOU WERE DOING TRYING TO KILL MY SON," Lucky said, pinning his cousin to the wall and shouting in his face.  
"It was my job," Sly said, in a low monotone voice.  
Lucky recognized that voice, he had talked that way when he was under Helena's control. "Dad, the viper did it again, she brainwashed him like she did to me, he doesn't know what he is doing any more than I did," Lucky said.  
"I know exactly what I am doing Lucky, I am paying the Spencer's back for killing my father years ago, you deserve everything that happens to you, and I intend to get my revenge," Sly said, fighting against Luke and Lucky who still had him pinned to the wall.  
"DAMMIT SLY, YOU ARE FAMILY, DON'T DO THIS, DON'T GIVE IN TO THAT VIPER FROM HELL," Luke shouted as he shook Sly by the shoulders.  
"Um, Dad, maybe we should move this "conversation" to another location, I think you are scaring the babies," Nikolas said, surprised that he called Luke dad.  
"You're right, let's move this to the stairwell boys," Luke said, also surprised to hear the word dad from Nikolas's mouth.  
They surrounded Sly and dragged him into the nearest stairwell where they continued to ask him questions about why he was doing this. They managed to get a little bit of information out of him, that he was working for Heleana (they assumed although he never actually said her name), that he was sent to kill the babies, and that he was told that he would be avenging his father's death (which was supposidly the Spencer's fault). They also found out that he was supposed to kill himself when his job was done, whether he was successful or not.  
"There will be others, she will not stop until you have paid for every death you have caused," Sly said, slowly loosening Luke's grip on his arms so he could escape and kill himself. He continued to stare straight ahead. None of the familiar feeling of family came back to him as he stared at his uncle and one time surrogate father.  
Sonny stepped a short distance away and made a few calls on his cell phone, ordering security on both the girls and the babies to be tripled, as well as other men to track down and eliminate anyone in Helena's employment to be sure that this wouldn't happen again.   
"Sly man, we used to be so close, I know what you are going through, she did the same thing to me, but you can fight it. We can help you fight the poison she filled your head with. Just let us help you Sly," Lucky said, begging his cousin and one time best friend to try to help himself beat Helena's control.  
"He's right Sly, Helena is unable to hurt you anymore, we've taken care of her," Luke said, loosening his grip just a little.  
"More blood on your hands, when will you Spencer's learn that every life you take will be avenged, she saved me from you people, I am not part of your family," Sly said, noticing that Luke had loosened his grip. He took advantage of the opprotunity and slipped away, fleeing down the stairs to the main floor of the hospital and then outside.   
  
Outside   
Luke, Lucky, Nikolas, Zander, and Sonny chased him a little ways into the entrance of the park, but Sly was too quick for him and they soon lost him in the bushes, since he didn't stick to the path.   
A few minutes later they heard a gunshot echo through the stillness of the night. When Sonny send one of his men to investigate he found Sly's body laying in the fountain in the center of the park with a bullet wound to the temple. He was dead.  
Everyone went back to the hospital, not wanting to leave the girls or the babies alone too much longer in case Helena had sent someone to finish the job. Nikolas, Lucky, and Zander struggled to find a way to tell the girls what had just happened. They didn't want them panicking and possibly injuring themselves so soon after surgery.  
  
In the ICU  
When they stepped off the the elevator and walked over to the ICU they noticed Dr. Wexler, Dr. Ramsey, Bobbie, and Drs. Alan and Monica Quartermaine standing at the nurse's station near the girl's rooms. They were deep in conversation, concern showing on thier faces. The boys could tell that it was bad news. Their news about what had just happened to the babies could wait, they could only deal with one piece of bad news at a time.  
"What happenened, is Elizabeth okay, did something happen to the baby?" Lucky asked, panic creeping into his voice.  
"Good, we need to talk to all of you, there is an important decision you have to make about the babies," Dr. Wexler said, holding the latest test results.  
"What's wrong with them? We were just up there and they seemed fine," Nikolas said, not mentioning Sly and what had happened just a few minutes ago.  
"They are fine for now, but they could have a serious problem in the next couple of months," Dr. Wexler said.  
"Whatever it is you had better discuss it with the babies mother's too," Zander said.  
"We will, however they are not in the best state of mind to sign the consent forms, so we need to discuss this with you first," Bobbie said.  
"We will just go down and get some coffee," Luke said, as he, Sonny, Carly, and Laura started to move towards the elevators.  
"Please stay Dad, you are the babies grandfather after all, everyone else too, please," Zander said, also surprised to call Luke dad.  
"Okay son we'll stay, what's up with my grandchildren Doc?" Luke asked.  
"As I was saying, there aren't any problems right now, aside from normal premie complications and minor things, but if we don't do something soon we may lose all three of the babies. Unfortunetly to fix the problem we risk losing them anyway, so its up to you what we do for them," Dr. Wexler said. 


	5. Chapter 4

Outside the ICU  
"Please just tell us what is wrong, are my daughter and her cousins sick, what do you need to do to fix the problem?" Nikolas said.  
"Let's sit down over there and we will tell you everything we know so far," Dr. Ramsey said, leading the group to the ICU waiting area.  
"Now as you know your babies were just far enough along to live after being delivered. They have done surprisingly well, but they do have a slight problem. Monica should explain it to you in more detail, since it involves the heart," Dr. Wexler said.  
"This is going to sound more serious than it is right away. What the babies have is what is known as a fetal heart valve nondisjunction. What this means is there is an extra valve in the heart that allows the blood to circulate between the left and right sides of the heart freely, bypassing the normal blood flow," Monica said, pausing for a moment.  
"What does this mean, is there something wrong with their hearts?" Lucky asked.  
"In full term babies this extra heart valve closes off and the extra pathway for the blood supply disappears within 6 hours of birth. However since your babies were 12 weeks premature, it will not close by itself, and the blood will continue to bypass the lungs, for the most part. This means that the babies although they appear healthy will develop what is called "failure to thrive" and they could have severe complications," Monica said.  
"What kind of complications?" Zander asked.  
"They range from starvation, blindness, learning disablities, deafness, mental retardation, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, and an increased risk of SIDS and sleep apnea which can be fatal," Dr. Wexler said, looking through her notes on FHVND (the acronym for the defect).  
"Is there anything you can do to prevent this from happening, or fix the problem?" Nikolas asked quietly, upset by the news that his daughter could have any number of problems because he failed to keep Autumn safe enough to carry their precious gift to full term.  
"There is a surgery which will close off the valve and sever the pathway for the blood to flow through, which will force the blood to go the correct way through the heart. There are a lot of risks of surgery as well, that's why we said that we had to do something soon, but even if we do something we may still lose one or all of the babies, especially with them being this early," Monica said.  
"How soon can you do the surgery?" Lucky asked, fighting to keep the tears in his eyes from falling. He failed and tears ran down his face as he thought about how he would ever be able to tell Elizabeth that they might lose their son before she had a chance to get to know him.  
"That's the other problem. We can't do the surgery yet, the babies are too small to be able to anesthetize them without causing undo strain on their tiny hearts. We have to wait until they are at least 3 pounds before we can do the surgery with less risk," Monica said.  
"How much risk are we talking about, what are their chances with and without the surgery?" Zander asked.  
"If we do the surgery now they have about a 50% chance, if we wait until they are 3 lbs or more it goes up to 85%, if we don't do the surgery they have about a 30% chance of surviving and only a 10% chance of not having complications," Monica said.  
"How long will it take for them to reach 3 lbs?" Lucky asked.  
"Right now the girls are 2 lbs 4 ounces and 2 lbs 2 ounces.The boy is 2 lbs 6 ounces. They have already gained an ounce each from their birth weight 2 days ago, so at that rate it could take from 3 weeks to a month maybe a little more to gain all the weight," Dr. Wexler said.  
"Can they wait that long?" Nikolas asked.  
"That's what we have to find out, I recommend monitering them very closely for the next week or so and seeing if they are gaining weight consistantly and checking to make sure there is little to no stress on their hearts," Monica said.  
"Will you be doing the surgeries?" Zander asked.  
"Yes, I am the only doctor who has been trained in open heart surgery on neonatal cases, I observed a FHVND closing operation during the last conference I attended," Monica said.  
"Will you be able to handle the fact that one of your patients is your granddaughter?" Luke asked.  
"I will have to Luke, don't worry, I won't let anything happen to them," Monica said.  
"Will someone please explain this to the girls? They will wonder what is going on, they still want to see the babies, but we don't want to worry them without having all the facts, and this will go over better coming from a doctor," Lucky said.  
"Yes, I will go explain what is happening to them before I go do rounds," Monica said.  
"And they can go see the babies in the next few days or so, they had some pain tonight, and I would like to see them go a day or two without pain before I let them move around," Dr. Wexler said.  
"Another thing you may want to think about is having the babies baptized, just in case something were to happen, I can call the hospital chaplin if you want to have it done," Dr. Ramsey said.  
"Let's wait on that, their mothers need to be there if they are going to be baptized, and we haven't picked out a name yet," Nikolas said.  
"I agree, even though we have a name picked out, Elizabeth needs to be there," Lucky said.   
"Just keep us updated on their condition," Zander said.  
"We will, and I will go talk to the girls now, don't worry, we will do everything we can," Monica said.  
"Boys, I know you are eager to get back to your fiancee's, but please sign these consent forms for the surgery, that way we will have everything set up beforehand," Dr. Wexler said.  
Lucky, Zander, Nikolas signed the consent forms and then went outside quickly to gather their thoughts while Monica was inside talking to Elizabeth, Emily, and I about the situation. The boys came back about a half-hour later. Nikolas held me as I cried, all I wanted was something to go right for us.  
  
A Week Later  
Monica had been monitoring the babies heart rates over the past few days, as well as their weight and overall condition. At first everything had been going well but last night all three babies, especially Emily and Autumn's babies had started throwing unusual heart waves. These readings made Monica nervous because she had no way of telling how much damage was being done to their bodies, brains, or even their hearts themselves. The girls were now 2 lbs 6 ounces and the boy was 2 lbs 8 ounces, still 8-10 ounces short of the ideal weight, but time was not on their side. It was time to do the surgery, while they still were healthy enough to survive.  
I was finally allowed to sit up for a short period of time each day, and I was eager to go see my daughter so that I knew for sure that she was still okay. Of course Nikolas had taken about 6 rolls of pictures in the last week and 3 videotapes, but I wanted to see her myself. Dr. Wexler promised that I would get to see her soon. Elizabeth, Emily, and I had been moved upstairs to the 7th floor and put in a room together. The room was quickly filled with balloons, flowers, cards, and drawings that Lulu had made of 3 little tiny babies playing with their dolls.  
The next day the doctors told us that it would be a good idea to have the babies baptized because they had moved the surgery up to 2 days from now. Their chances of survival were 60% without some sort of complication. When we heard this we called the chaplin and set up a baptism ceremony for the next day. Now we just had to come up with names for our babies and decide who the godparents would be. 


	6. Chapter 5

The Next Day  
Nikolas, Lucky, and Zander went to the mall to pick out something special for the babies to be baptized in. They couldn't be dressed, or even taken out of the incubators because of all the tubes and wires, but they could put a little hat and a pair of booties on them for the special occasion. Lucky quickly found a cute pale blue hat and matching booties. Zander choose a pale yellow set for his daughter after a little more thought. Nikolas however couldn't decide what to buy for his daughter. He finally chose a light green hat and booties that had a checked design like gingham on them.  
Elizabeth, Emily, and I in the meantime were trying to get ready to see our babies for the first time since they were born. We had been in bed for almost 2 weeks, and we were starting to feel better. Dr. Wexler had finally given the okay, because of the baptism, for us to go upstairs to see the babies. The boys insisted that we sit in our wheelchairs the whole time just in case we pulled the staples out of our stomachs straining to stand up and keep our balance since we had been in bed for most of the last 6 months, except for a few times when we had been allowed out of bed, like the night we went into labor.  
  
In The NICU  
The chaplin set up everything he needed to baptize these babies. He had the candles, the holy water and chrism (holy annointing oil), the bibs, and the little baptism books and rosaries. He said a silent prayer to St. Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, that he might bless and watch over these babies and keep them safe during the surgery. Then he stood outside the NICU waiting for the parents and the rest of the family to arrive.  
Everyone had dressed up in their church clothes. Nikolas, Zander, and Lucky put the hat and booties on the babies and took a few pictures. Even Elizabeth, Emily, and I had been allowed to change into street clothes and were now wearing dresses, which were the easiest and most comfortable to get into. Luke and Laura brought Lulu who stared at the babies and said "they're so tiny," in a very quiet "church" voice. Sonny and Carly were there as well, although they left Micheal with Leticia. Bobbie, Lesley, Alan, and Monica were there to round out the family and friends.  
  
"Are we ready to begin?" the chaplin asked.  
"Yes father," I said quietly.  
"Alright, Sons and Daughters of God, we are gathered here today to celebrate the addition of 3 more souls into the loving care of their parents, who in turn ask for God's blessing and guidence in their lives. And at this time a special prayer of protection in all that lies ahead for them. The parents, family, and godparents ask you O God to bless and keep these souls and guide them through life. Do we have at least one set of godparents?" the chaplin asked.  
"Yes we do," Nikolas said. Sonny and Carly stepped over to where the chaplin pointed and he continued his prayer.  
"Finally, the parents today entrust you Oh God with the spiritual well-being of their children, especially in their time of need, be with them Lord, Amen," he said.  
"Amen," everyone answered.  
"Baptism is rebirth, it is the symbolic washing away of original sin passed down from Adam and Eve, and it is a covenant with God that these lives are in his care. Please say "I do" after each statement," the chaplin said, starting the baptism prayer:  
  
"Do you believe in God, the father almighty?" he said.  
"I do," we said.  
"Do you reject Satan and all his works, all his temptations, and all his false promises?" he said.  
"I do," we said.  
"Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the only son of God?" he said.  
"I do," we said.  
"Do you believe in the Holy Spirit," he said.  
"I do," we said.  
"Do you believe in the apostles, the saints, and the one holy Roman Catholic Church," he said.  
"I do," we said.  
"I bless you in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit, Amen," he said.  
"Amen," we said, as we did the sign of the cross.  
  
"Would the godparents take the baptism candle and the bib, and place the items inside the incubator for a few moments for the ceremony, at this point the candles would normally be lit to purify the spirits of the people being baptized, however with the situation as it is we cannot light the candles," he said as he prepared the last step in the baptism ceremony.  
"Do you as grandparents take responsibility for the spiritual and if need be, physical well-being of these people of God," he said.  
"I do," Carly said.  
"I do," Sonny said.  
"Do the parents have names picked out?" the chaplin said.  
"Yes father," Emily, Elizabeth, and I said. We wrote the babies names down in the book the chaplin gave us, formally introducing them to the community by signing their names, and then saying them outloud, which would happen next.  
The chaplin walked over to Elizabeth and Lucky's son and looked at the name written in the book, "Lucas Lorenzo Spencer III, I bless you in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit, Amen," he said as he annointed the baby with the holy water and chrism.  
He then walked over to Zander and Emily's baby and read the name out of the book, "Lila Paige Spencer, I bless you in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit, Amen," he said.  
Finally he walked over to Nikolas and I and read our daughter's name from the book, "Leilani Grace Spencer, I bless you in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit, Amen," he said.  
"The service has ended, go now in peace to love and serve the lord," the chaplin said.  
"Amen," we said.  
  
Later that day  
"Leilani Grace Spencer, that is an unusual name, where did you find that?" Luke said to Nikolas and I.  
"We did an internet search since we couldn't decide what to name her and we both liked Leilani," I said, looking through our daughter's baby book which was already 1/3 of the way full with pictures.  
"What does it mean?" Laura asked from her seat on the other side of the room.  
"It means heavenly flower in Hawaiian, and Grace was my mother's name, and also my middle name," I said quietly, starting to get tired, now that I knew my little girl was okay.  
"I will leave you guys to sleep now, come on Luke, let's let them rest, they had a long day, we will see you tomorrow," Laura said, leading Luke out of our room. We fell asleep not too long after that.   
For the first time in a week my dreams were peaceful and I didn't wake up in the middle of the night sweating and panicking as I had been doing. Elizabeth and Emily also slept peacefully, and the guys even got some sleep, which was rare lately for them. It had been a good day. 


	7. Chapter 6

The Next Day  
Monica came to our room early the next morning and told us that she was ready to take the babies to the OR for surgery. Luke and Laura had already been in the nursery to see them as had Nikolas, Lucky, and Zander. Now it was our turn. "At least we get to say goodbye in case something happens," I said sadly.   
"Autumn you can't think like that, everything will be okay, it has to," Elizabeth said, trying to not cry, and failing as two tears streamed down her cheeks.  
We were wheeled into the NICU and sat staring at our babies. They were still so tiny and frail. You could see through the skin on their hands and their fingernails hadn't started growing yet. Their bodies were even still covered in a light layer of baby hair, which was normal for premature babies. "Are you sure you can't wait until they are bigger?" Emily asked her mom.   
"Honey I wish that I could, but if we don't operate now I am afraid that they won't live to go home. I want to give them every chance possible to grow up normal and healthy," Monica said, giving Emily a hug.   
Sonny and Carly knocked on the door to the nursery and Monica let them in. Sonny may not be her favorite person, but he was the babies godfather and he had a right to see them. He came over to us and automatically gave us each a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Carly also hugged us and handed each of us yet another gift. "Carly you don't have to keep buying them things every time you come to visit. The nursery is going to be so full there won't be any room for the babies," I said smiling.  
"I know, but then I saw the cutest display at Wyndem's and I just had to buy these," Carly said smiling. We opened the presents and inside were beautiful dresses for the girls, with matching diaper covers, hats, and even little cloth shoes and matching hand covers (so the babies couldn't scratch themselves with their fingernails). And for Lorenzo she had bought a cute little one piece outfit that looked like a little suit and tie, with matching shoes, hand covers, and a hat.   
"Carly they are adorable thank you, but it will be quite awhile before they can wear them, they aren't anywhere close to being ready to come home from the hospital." Elizabeth said.  
"That's why I bought them a little bigger size, that way they will be that size by the time they can wear them home," Carly said.  
"Okay I hate to say this, but its time to get them ready to go to the OR and for you girls and all your visitors to go back to your floor until I am done," Monica said, the smile slowly disappearing from her face.  
"But we want to wait in the waiting room to hear how its going," I protested.  
"That wouldn't be good for you, the surgery will take at least 4 hours, if not more, you need to rest and take your medication, I will send someone down to you every hour with news," Monica said.  
"Every half-hour, otherwise we won't be able to stop worrying, not that we will be able to relax anyway, but that's the only way we will go back downstairs," I said firmly, surprising everyone in the room.  
"I think Autumn has a point Monica, Carly and I will run down every half-hour to let them know what's going on with the babies, and I will make sure they eat, rest and take care of themselves," Sonny said.  
"Thank you Sonny, I can't wait to be able to start doing things for myself again, whenever Nikolas lets me that is, which probably won't be until Leilani is 25, considering how things keep happening to me," I said, sadness creeping into my voice. I put my head down and started to silently cry, tears streaming down my face. Just then Nikolas, Lucky, and Zander walked back into the nursery looking for us. Nikolas took one look at me and knelt down in front of my wheelchair holding my hands in his.  
"Autumn sweetie, don't cry please, I would give anything not to have this happening, if only I would have kept you safer..." Nikolas said, his voice trailing off as he too started to cry. Everyone just watched the scene without saying a word. We were too wrapped up in our emotions to remember that there was a room full of other people. Nikolas recovered first and grabbed the handles of my wheelchair. He opened the door to the NICU and told Lucky that we were going back to the room, then he brought me down to the 7th floor and gently put me back in bed. He slid into bed next to me, brushed the hair out of my face, and quietly sang me to sleep. Not noticing the shadowy figure standing outside the door listening to every word. It was Helena. 


	8. Chapter 7

In the Hallway  
Luke walked down the hall trying to ready himself to visit his daughters-in-law to see how they were doing. As he rounded the corner towards their room he saw something or someone he thought he would never see walking free again, Helena Cassadine. He sped up his walking and frantically opened the door to the room. Autumn and Nikolas were laying on her bed sleeping fitfully. Autumn looked as though she was having a bad dream and Nikolas was trying even in sleep to try to protect her.   
"I hate to do this children, but wake up, its an emergency," Luke said, smiling slightly as they woke up slowly.   
"What is it Luke I was just getting Autumn to sleep for once," Nikolas said.  
"Its your grandmother," Luke said.  
Nikolas and I were awake at once, sitting up in bed with the same shocked expression on our faces. "What about her Luke, did she finally die?" I asked.  
"I wish she had, but no, somehow she got the use of her legs back and she escaped from the safehouse," Luke said.  
"WHAT??" Nikolas said, followed by a string of expletives, most of which were in Russian and French.  
"It gets worse, not only did she escape but she is back in Port Charles, and she is in the hospital," Luke said, pulling out his cell phone and calling upstairs to Sonny who was on his way down anyway with Carly, Elizabeth, and Emily.  
"Did you see her Luke?" I asked, my heart pounding loudly until I felt sick to my stomach.  
"She was right outside your door, watching while you were trying to put Autumn to sleep, then she walked to the elevators and I don't know where she went," Luke said.  
This time I let out my own string of curse words followed by, "Someone should just kill the B***H and stop all of this nonsense already. I am so sick of living my life constantly looking in the shadows to make sure she isn't trying to kill me or my friends," I said.  
"I'm sorry Autumn, ever since you met me your life has been even more of a nightmare than it ever was," Nikolas said.  
"NO Nikolas, don't blame yourself for your psycho-granny and her screwed up sense of family loyalty and honor," I said trying to stand up.  
"Where do you think you are going darlin?" Luke said gently pushing my shoulders down to keep me in bed.  
"I am damn well going to go upstairs to make sure that my daughter is okay and the witch hasn't taken her," I said shouting, loudly enough that Sonny could hear me from the other end of the hallway and rushed over to the room.  
"What's going on in here, querida you need to stay in bed, Nikolas, Luke and I need to go outside in the hall and talk," Sonny said.  
"Please, just talk here, don't take Nikolas away from me," I said, clinging onto Nikolas's hand from fear and exhaustion.  
"Its okay sweetie, I will be right back, Laura will come down and sit with you, and Carly," he said as Carly walked into the room pushing Emily and Laura followed pushing Elizabeth's wheelchair into the room.  
"The surgery has started and so far everything is going okay," Carly said, stopping in her tracks as she saw the expression on Sonny's face. She knew something was very wrong.  
"Good everyone is here, we have a problem. Helena escaped and she's skulking around the hospital planning something," Luke said matter of factly.  
"S**T what else could go wrong?" Carly said.  
"Don't ask Caroline, don't ask," Luke said.  
"So what are we going to do about this, I for one want to personally make sure she can't hurt us ever again," I said.  
"I will handle this, and believe me she won't hurt one hair on anyone's head or she will be in the river swimming with Moreno," Sonny said.  
Outside in the hallway Helena sauntered past the door. She had just missed seeing her great-grandchildren before they went to surgery, but as she stood outside the door to the room she had sworn that none of the babies would make it home alive. 


	9. Chapter 8

Upstairs in the OR  
Monica and her team of surgeons had started the first surgery on Emily and Zander's daughter Lila. Monica was in the process of locating the exact spot that she needed to clamp off the arteries to put little Lila on the heart-lung machine for the operation. It was a difficult task considering the blood vessals were the size of of a single spaghetti noodle. Monica found the position for the clamp and put it into place. Lila was now legally dead, and would be until the heart-lung machine was turned off, which would be in about 3 hours if everything went well.  
Monica quickly found the valve and extra blood vessal which shouldn't be open and severed one side of the vessel. This was the easy part. The hard part was to sew everything into its proper place exactly right and then getting the tiny walnut sized heart to start beating again.   
An hour into surgery Monica had removed the extra blood vessel and the valve controlling the flow of blood into the lungs had been corrected so that it allowed all the blood to go the proper direction. Now Monica was faced with sewing up the tiny holes remaining in the heart muscle where the two ends of the vein had been. This would take another hour of delicate surgery, and this was only the first baby. She still had 2 more of these procedures to do today.  
Everything continued to go smoothly and Monica held her breath as she slowly removed the clamp and allowed the blood to return to the heart from the machine. Two agonizing minutes later a faint heartbeat could be heard in the OR as Lila's heart restarted on its own. Monica had saved her granddaughter. Now she just had to close up Lila's chest and prepare herself to start on Lucky and Elizabeth's son Lorenzo.  
Lorenzo's surgery went as well as Lila's had so Monica was cautiously optimistic a few hours later when she started operating on Nikolas and Autumn's daughter Leilani. She was the smallest of the three babies and had been experiencing the most complications, but Monica was confident that she wouldn't have any serious issues.  
Leilani was on the heart-lung machine and now Monica had to mind the clock as she slowly searched for the ends of the extra vessel. The end connected to the heart had been severed but when Monica went to sever the end connected further up the heart, near the pulmonary vessal where the blood should be flowing into, she discovered that the vein was no longer soft and pliable. It showed signs of a blood clot having been lodged in it. Monica had to stop the surgery for a few moments to try to find out if there was a clot loose in the heart someplace which could possibly kill the baby when she restarted her tiny heart. As the time quickly slipped by Monica decided that there wasn't a blood clot currently, but that the baby would need to be watched for signs that the clot was still present.   
Monica finished repairing the damage to the heart and started to remove the clamp from the vessals to restart the heart. Two minutes went by and Leilani's heart still hadn't restarted, then three minutes went by. Monica re-clamped the vein and again fed the baby's blood into the heart-lung machine. Something wasn't right and if Monica didn't figure it out soon Leilani wouldn't live to go home to her parents.  
Ten tense minutes later Monica discovered that there indeed was a blood clot lodged in the baby's heart. It was in the Aorta which is the main artery carrying blood back to the rest of the body. Monica spent 15 precious minutes removing a pea sized clot from the aortic arch (the part that curves from the heart down towards the rest of the body). Finally after the delay Monica again unclamped Leilani's heart and waited for it to start beating on its own. Three minutes later Monica sighed in relief as the baby's heart started beating normally and her color improved.   
Monica had successfully saved all three babies, but there could still be problems for them further down the road. Time would tell if they would overcome their premature birth or what problems were in store for them in the future. Monica changed her scrubs to get rid of the blood stained garments and hurried downstairs to tell the anxious family members and friends that for now all three babies were ok. 


End file.
